A report from 2009, from KnowledgeWorks called 2020 Forecast: Creating the Future of Learning caught my attention. It identifies six major drivers of change that might unleash a wild world of learning quite unlike any system of schooling we’ve ever experienced. What I’m finding is that it’s increasingly a story-driven game that places students at the center of their learning experience, much like an MMORPG. In any case, the singularity is one narrative I imagine will drastically alter what it means to be a student interfacing with a world undergoing ecological and economic shifts.

In the section called Altered Bodies we’re reminded that neuroscientists have begun to design neuro-enhancements that might soon provide “customized learning experiences” that push the boundaries of ethics and cognitive rights. Learners are forecast to have “more and more options for modifying their minds and bodies in support of peak performance even as they navigate increasing levels of bio-distress.” I’m reminded of what H.G. Wells would say is urgently needed to prevent our own extinction, “the evolution of a new more powerful type of man.”

Sean Grainger (@graingered) tells me “the world we all share is one big story written by history.” I agree with him, our collective story is summed up by each one of our individual stories. He says, “Teachers are in the story-writing business” and that our fundamental purpose is to be what we want education to be.

I’ve had the pleasure to occasionally exchange tweets with Sean, and in many ways he’s influenced me to think of myself as a teacher. Maybe not the certified-type who commands a classroom, but the sort who plays a necessary role in the future of education. My contacts have dealt me enough insight to understand what kind of lessons the next generation will need in order to lead society through the transition ahead. I’d like to play my part.

From our analysis of current and potential developments we postulate three scenarios for the future of the web:

The web without meaning (including corporate portals) – driven by short-term economic imperatives and self interest, this scenario is an extrapolation from the present situation;

Improved collaborative frameworks – in this scenario, widely accepted taxonomies of hundreds, if not thousands, of different knowledge domains are the building blocks of the future semantic web;

A third scenario is an updated version of a vision first proposed during the 1930s by H.G. Wells of what he called the “World Brain”.

Key elements of the second and third scenarios are the “intellegent’ web, which incorporates topic maps, knowledge maps and ontologies that act on the basis of the precise meaning of specified terms and the relationships between them. An alternative view is that, instead of new ‘intelligence’ being artificially situated in the network using combinations of algorithms and machine learning, it will come from enhancing the intelligence, disciplines and skills of the users using taxonomy working.